In this file photo from 2013, Rutgers University President Robert Barchi and Board of Governors Chairman Gerald Harvey take questions from reporters following a board meeting. Harvey said today he is opposed to a bill proposed by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney that would expand the board to 19 members.
(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — An Assembly committee today approved a controversial bill increasing the number of political appointees on the Rutgers Board of Governors.

But despite last-minute changes to companion legislation in the state Senate to overcome potential legal hurdles and campus opposition, the university’s board chairman said enlarging the size of the board to 19 members from 15 was unnecessary.

Gerald Harvey, the chairman, told the Assembly Budget Committee that while the changes proposed by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, the bill’s sponsor, removed a "core reason" for his opposition, he had "not had the opportunity to speak with all the members of the board."

"But," he added, "most of the members of the board with whom I have spoken have made it clear that they oppose the bill as amended."

Nevertheless, the Assembly Budget Committee approved the amended bill by a vote of 7-5, and it now goes to the full Assembly for approval. The full Senate has yet to vote on the explosive measure.

In recent weeks, Rutgers official have clashed with Sweeney, who for years has been calling on Rutgers to modernize its complex governance system. Rutgers officials insist it is illegal for the state to make any governance changes at the university without the approval of the school’s two boards.

At the Assembly hearing, Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union) tried to undercut Sweeney’s justification for the bill — that the Rutgers governing bodies need more members with medical backgrounds to reflect the university’s recent addition of several medical and health science schools.

"Is there any issue pressing, is there any issue identified ... that requires an expertise that’s listed in the bill for an immediate need?" Cryan asked.

"No," Harvey said.

The board chairman added that there will soon be three vacancies that will allow the governor to nominate people with medical backgrounds, without changing the board’s structure.

Dorothy Cantor, chairwoman of the Rutgers board of trustees, also opposed the bill and said the trustees would, if necessary, sue the state to stop from moving forward.

"The bill serves no public purpose," Cantor said. "Indeed, there’s no rationale for it. The legislature just two years ago increased the board of governors to 15 from 11 members, but wisely kept the balance between politically-appointed and trustee-appointed members. It is incumbent on the trustees to preserve the integrity and the autonomy of the university."

Rutgers is currently overseen by a 15-member board of governors, which makes tuition, budget and other major campus decisions. But the school also has a 59-member board of trustees, made up mostly of alumni.

The trustees appoint seven members of the board of governors and oversee the land and assets Rutgers held before it became the state university in 1956.

Under his original proposal, Sweeney wanted to add four political appointees to the board of governors, two chosen by the governor and one each selected by the Senate president and the Assembly speaker.

The amendments Sweeney introduced today cut the section of the legislation that would have allowed the heads of the Senate and Assembly to each make one direct appointments to the Rutgers board. Instead, the governor would appoint all four new members to the board.

The changes address one of several concerns about the bill included in a legal opinion by the Office of Legislative Services, the state Legislature’s non-partisan research arm.

The office’s legal experts sent lawmakers a 12-page legal opinion on Wednesday warning that a court might find the bill to be "invalid" for several reasons. The provision in the bill that would have allowed the Senate president and Assembly speaker to directly appoint members of the Rutgers board could be found to be a violation of the state Constitution, the opinion said.

Under the revised measure, the four new board members would be:

• An appointee selected by the governor with expertise in the medical field

• An appointee selected by the governor who is also a member of the Rutgers board of trustees and a Rutgers graduate

• An appointee recommended by the Assembly speaker, but appointed by the governor, with medical expertise

• An appointee recommended by the Senate president, but appointed by the governor, who is a Rutgers trustee and a Rutgers graduate

University officials maintain making any changes to Rutgers’ governance structure is a violation of the state law that transformed the private college to the state university in 1956.